Rahlves Wins Historic Hahnenkamm DH

KITZBUEHEL, Austria Jan. 25, 2003 (USSA)--After several delays caused by persistent fog—and 40-plus years of waiting for U.S. racing fans, Daron Rahlves (Sugar Bowl, CA) became the first U.S. racer to win the Hahnenkamm downhill since Buddy Werner in 1959 as he conquered a course shortened because of the marginal conditions, edging Swiss Didier Cuche by five-hundredths of a second. World Cup leader Bode Miller (Franconia, NH) was eighth and Jake Fiala (Frisco, CO) 18th.

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Outdoor Life Network will televise post-race interviews at 4 p.m. EST today and ESPN2 will broadcast coverage of the historic performance—the first win by an American in the World Cup era (which began with the '67 season) and the first by a North American since Canadian Todd Brooker in 1983—following his teammates Ken Read in 1980 and Steve Podborski in both '81 and '82—on Tuesday, Feb. 4 at 3 p.m. EST. (Werner is the only other U.S. skier to win the Hahnenkamm DH.)

"I've said many times if I was gonna win any race," Rahlves said in a press conference, "this would be the one to win—over the Olympics, the World Championships, any one. You reach a level of legendary status here..."

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Before he left the finish area for doping control and then the press conference, Rahlves walked through the Strasse Der Sieger, the so-called Tunnel of Champions.

"I just can't stop smiling," Rahlves told reporters in the finish area. "Every downhiller dreams of winning the Hahnenkamm. It's the sign of a great champion—and that's what I did today."

EBERHARTER SHAVES POINTS LEADNorway's Kjetil Andre Aamodt was third, another .03 off the winning pace, and Austrian Stephan Eberharter finished fourth, which helped him whittle Miller's overall points lead to 25 with a slalom Sunday leading into the second combined calculation of the season. Then the men run a night slalom Tuesday in Schlamding and head for the World Championships in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

DH/SG Head Coach John McBride added, "I've never seen Kitzbuehel so quiet. We had talked about Black Saturday, meaning no Austrian on the top step, but no Austrian on the podium...wow! Daron pinned the bottom; that took huge stones and that won it for him!"

The Hahnenkamm triumph—coming in 1:09.63—is the fourth victory of Rahlves' career, following his downhill win Dec. 29 in Bormio, Italy, and back-to-back wins in 24 hours on the 1994 Olympic course in Kvitfjell, Norway, in March 2000. It's also his fifth podium of the season, going with his second in a downhill a week earlier in Wengen (not the Lauberhorn DH) and his thirds at the Chevy Truck Birds of Prey DH in Beaver Creek and a third in a second Bormio downhill.

He was a little behind the pace coming out of the start, which leads into a flat section, but Rahlves gathered steam as the course began to drop. Despite the fog, he all but aced the turns in the mid-section and sailed through the Zieschuss, the final rolling stretch of the run to the finish.

"Kitzbuehel's been kinda like the dream race for all of us growing up in the United States—it's what racing's all about, the sheer challenge, the recognition it gets, so many people not just inside skiing but outside skiing, too, know it," Rahlves said at the post-race media gathering.

"I look forward to this race each year," he said, noting there were disappointments this week after winds and then snows erased training runs. He loves the Streif course and hated to lose even a training run; Friday, after the super G was scrubbed, he went free-skiing with friends and said he watched gondola cars, noting the names of previous champions.

GONDOLA "GRAFFITI" TO SAY 'RAHLVES'"I decided to blow some steam," he said. "They're amazing skiers, they stepped up when there were big races and I just felt like 'Okay, my name's gotta be on one of these. It's time to make it happen' ...I had a chance of putting RAHLVES on one of those gondolas.

"I think I'll wait for that gondola every time I'm in Kitzbuel," he said in a toom filled with laughter.

The win is "a little bittersweet," he explained, "because I really wanted to kick out of the top, do the Mausfalle, the Steilhang...do the top to bottom race, but the decision (to change the start in the interest of ensuring the race) was made. Now I'm looking forward to coming back here next year and coming out on top...

"What makes this race THE race is definitely the top," according to Rahlves, "and then the middle is fairly mellow but there are some big turns..." He said the intensity of the finish adds to the drama and excitement with thousands of enthusiastic fans lining the Zielschuss. "The sheer speed and the real downhill. It's what downhill is all about, going straight down and hanging on."

He praised his waxing technician, Willi Wiltz and said Wiltz, for some reason, showed up at the start without ski boots or skis, so when the start was moved, he had to run down to the new start. And when it was done, he made his way by foot to the finish. "I got there faster," Rahlves said with a smile, "but I saw him at the finish—all sweaty and all...he must be pretty sure-footed because it's tough coming down that course even on skis, on foot it'd be real tough, I think."

BIG EVENTS DEMAND BIG PERFORMANCESAlthough last season was frustrating, primarily with his inability to pop good results during the Olympics in Salt Lake City, Rahlves has been able to produce big-race results, he said, because of his adrenalin at big races.

"The big events just fire me up more. I get more excited—there's more on the line," he said. "Everybody wants the big one. I want to attack—it brings little more out in me, a little more focus, a little more energy.

Focusing on skiing, not winning, helps him. "I've learned I go up to ski fast. I kick out of the start and don't think about winning. I think about what it takes to be fast. I think about what I can control. I don't think about Eberharter or Cuche. I think about things that make me fast. I make sure everything's taken care of; I don't let anything slip by."

Organizers battled the fog, which clung to the middle of the course, forcing delays from the scheduled 11 a.m. start to 11:30, to noon, and to 12:30. They finally decided to drop the start to the Alte Schneisse, just above the super G starthouse and after a TV camera forerunner went down the course at 1:42 p.m., showing many sections of the course grey but no thick layers of fog, went head with the re-re-re-restart time of 1:45.

The lowered start eliminated the challenging Mausfalle and Steilhang but still sent racers through the Seidelalm, Hausberg and Zielschuss sections. Weather had troubled the race crews since midweek after one training run when winds erased a second training run and about a half-meter of new snow wiped out Friday's super G.

Rahlves said the victory won't reduce his focus for St. Moritz and the World Championships which open Feb. 2. "I want the gold in St. Moritz, too. This was my fifth podium, my second win in downhill and I haven't even got my super G going yet, but I feel my speed, my skis are great and I look forward to the net race where I can ski as hard as I can.

"I JUST GO OUT ... DO MY JOB""Now, I know if I put it all together, everything is there for me to be the fastest man down." He said his Atomic Skis and Lange boots, among the rest of his equipment, have been perfection. "Everything is made easy for me right now," he said. "I just go out, get in the start and do my job."

Two years ago, he took time off over the holidays, then reached the podium in Kitzbuehel, finishing third in the Hahnenkamm, and went on to muffle Austrians a couple of weeks later when he won the World Championships super G gold from Eberharter and Hermann Maier in St. Anton. For some reason, January has been a time for him to get rolling, he said.

"I'm a world champion and winner of the Hahnenkamm. I feel like adding to that," he said.

Since his podium in 2001 in Kitz, Rahlves said he's had a heightened appreciation for what skiing means in Austria, and especially in this resort community. Discussing the Tunnel of Champions, he said, "It's a great place to be. I can say I walked it...

"Since 2001, I've wondered what it could possibly be like to hear 'Hahnenkamm sieger' (champion) and hear my name...and in a couple of hours I'll know.

McBride said simply, "Daron Rahlves and Buddy Werner...pretty good company for D...pretty good company."

Since his podium in 2001 in Kitz, Rahlves said he's had a heightened appreciation for what skiing means in Austria, and especially in this resort community. Discussing the Tunnel of Champions, he said, "It's a great place to be. I can say I walked it...

"Since 2001, I've wondered what it could possibly be like to hear 'Hahnenkamm sieger' (champion) and hear my name...and in a couple of hours I'll know.

McBride said simply, "Daron Rahlves and Buddy Werner...pretty good company for D...pretty good company."